01 September 2005

A retort to Repent America by Brian Backus

Michael Marcavage’s contention that hurricane Katrina is divine retribution on New Orleans for wanton behavior proves he is blind to truth. Biloxi and Gulfport both suffered as bad or worse, despite being God-fearing towns. Mr. Marcavage draws the wrong conclusion from the evidence, because the truth threatens his worldview. What has happened since the religious right has taken control of all three elected bodies of American government?

1. Furious hurricanes pounding states that voted for George Bush, including Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.2. The terrorist attacks of 9/113. The stock market crash of 20024. War killing thousands of Americans

If God is trying to tell Americans anything, it is that religious intolerance won’t go unpunished. It is that God wants Christian Americans, especially those of the evangelical South, to look deep into their souls and tackle the difficult struggle of truly understanding what it means to love thy neighbor as thyself. He’s telling Americans not to fall into theeasy trap of making scapegoats of others, but to live for the well-being of all mankind.

The idea of a punishing God is common in primitive societies, as well as primitive subcultures within modern societies that lack modern tools to understand events beyond their control. Christ’s vision was of a loving God, and he sought to overthrow the enslavementof the people by a cast of priest-overlords who maintained power and privilege by invoking the fear of God. On this basis, Mr. Marcavage’s beliefs are not Christian, but a throwback to pagan ideas of a vengeful God. One can only hope that someday Mr. Marcavage and his ilk can be saved, and turn their lives around to embrace Christ’s singular edict: Love thy neighbor as thyself.